Sen. Ayotte: I'm more qualified for presidency than Obama was in '08

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) argued she's more qualified to sit in the Oval Office than President Obama was when he ran in 2008.

"I'll tell you this, I have great experience as attorney general in the state. I'm very proud of that experience and I would say I have some would say better experience than Barack Obama had when he was a senator and ran having been the chief law enforcement officer of my state," Ayotte said in response to being asked Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press whether she's ready to be president.

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Ayotte's name has repeatedly come up on shortlists for the vice presidential spot on the 2012 ticket. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have also been mentioned as potential candidates. Ayotte said that Rubio and Portman were both great choices.

"I served on the Senate Armed Services Committee but again, what it comes down to me is serving New Hampshire," Ayotte said.

Ayotte's dig at Obama's lack of qualifications harkens back to one critics repeatedly made in 2008 when then-Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) was running for president. Obama's opponents said that the junior senator from Illinois had been in national politics for too little time and his prior positions as an Illinois state senator and community organizer fell far short of what was needed on a strong presidential candidate's resume.

Ayotte's comments about the vice presidential spot were stronger than Rubio's response to a similar question earlier Sunday. The freshman senator, when asked if he was qualified to be president, declined to respond but argued that he was qualified to be in the Senate.